Speed reducer



'L. G. BOWEN SPEED REDUGER Filed April 38. 1938 Feb. 13, 1940.

2 Sheets -S heet 1 INVYENTOR LESLIE 6. Bows/v BY fi ATTORNEY Feb. 13, 1940. BOWEN 2,189,776

SPEED REDUCER Filed April 2a, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INYENTOR LESLIE 6. BOWEN mag; .ATTQRNEY PatentedFeb.'13,194O 4 i UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE SPEED REDUOER Leslie G. Bowen, Kansas City, Mo.

Application April 28, 1938, Serial No. 204,807 2; Claims. (01. 74405) My invention relates to speed reducing devices, Other objects and advantages of my invention and more particularly to a speed reduction gearwill appear as the description of the drawings ing. proceeds. I desire to have it understood, how

It is a purpose of my invention. to provide a ever, that I do not intend to limit myself'to the ducing a very large reduction in speed by the use defined in the claims.

of a simple gear arrangement employing a small In the drawings: number of toothed members, and which is very Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional view diametricompact and simple in construction. cally through my speed reduction device, Which is '10 It is a. further purpose of my invention to protaken substantially on the line |I of Fig. 2. vide a device of the above mentioned character, Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2--2 of Pig. in which practically any desired speed reduction 1 on a reduced scale. between the driving and the driven shaft can be Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. obtained, and in which the same structure can be l, on a reduced scale, and V utilized for driving the. driven member either in Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 5

the same direction as the driving member or in 1, on a reduced scale. a reverse direction to that of the driving mem- Referring in detail to the drawings, my imber, this being dependent upon the difference in proved speed reduction device comprises a casthe gear ratio between the gears carried by and ing or housing H), which is of an annular charrotating with the driving member, and a fixed acter, and which is provided with any suitable 20 and a freely rotatable ring gear, respectively, means for securing the same to a frame, such as said rotatable ring gear being rotatable as a unit the flange I I, having openings l2 therein, through with the driven'member. I which securing elements may be passed. Mounted More particularly my invention comprises a within the housing or casing Ill is a driving shaft driving shaft, about which a member carrying a l3, said driving shaft extending into saidhous- 25 plurality of toothed-members is rotatable, said ing from any suitable means for rotating the driving member having a pair of gears thereon, same. 3 i

one of whichmeshes with certain of said toothed v Mounted onsaid drive shaftis a gear M, which members and the other of which meshes with the is secured thereto so as to rotate therewith in speed reducing gearing that is capable of proparticular details shown or described, except as 5' others of said toothed members, the toothed memany desired manner, as by means of the pin I5. 30

hers being all rotatable on. axes on said rotatably Spaced lengthwise of the shaft [3 from the gear mounted member, and the toothed'members that I4 is a gear 16, which is also fixed to rotate with mesh with said one gear meshing with a fixed the shaft, as by means of a pin it. Mounted internal ring gear to cause the positive rotation between the gears I4 and it on the shaft I3 is a of said rotatably mounted memberat a certain collar or ring H, which is provided with a ball 35' rate relative to the drive shaft, the other rotatrace l8, in which the bearing balls I9 roll.

able toothed members engaging a ring gear that' A disk-like member 20 is mounted within the is rotatably mounted causing, due to the comcasing l0 and has a ring 2| provided on the inner bined action of the member rotatably mounted face thereof, which is provided with a ball race 40 about the drive shaft and the gear rotating with 22, in which the bearing balls iii-operate. Said 40' the drive shaft, a rotation of the rotatably mountdisk-like member 26 is provided with a plurality ed internal ring gear and the driven membenx of openings Hand 24 for reducing the weight which is driven by means of said rotatably thereof, and is also recessed or grooved at 25 to mounted ring gear. further reduce the weight thereof. The outer It is an important purpose of my invention to periphery, or rim portion, of the disk-like mern- 45 provide a device of the above mentioned oharber 20 is provided with a groove 26 therein, that acter, which is highly eflicient in operation, the serves as a ball race receiving the bearing balls losses in the gearing being reduced to a minimum 21. The casing H] is provided with a ball race by providing a ball bearing anti-friction mount- 28 on the inner periphery thereof, in which the ing for the rotatably mounted ring gear member bearing balls 27 roll. The disk-like member 20 0 and for the rotatably mounted member that oaris thus mounted for free rotation within the casries the two series of toothed members meshing ing H3 and about the shaft I3. r with the gears on the drive shaft, whereby frio- The casing I0 is'provided with an annular series tion losses in the drive shaft are reduced to a of gear teeth 29, which form an internal ring gear minimum.

integral with the casing l0 and thus held station- 55'.

ary with said casing on any suitable frame or support, on which said casing may be secured. Mounted on the disk-like member are shafts 36, that have the toothed members or gears 3i mounted thereon, so that said members 3| are freely rotatable about the axes of the shafts on the disk-like member 26. Said toothed members or gears 3i mesh with the teeth of the gear 14 and with the teeth 29 of the internal ring gear formed on the casing Ii].

It will be obvious that, as the gear M is rotated with the shaft, the toothed members 3! will be rotated about their axes on the member 28 and will travel along on the annular series of teeth 23 carrying the disk-like member 23 therewith in the same direction as the shaft 43 rotates. Thus, if the direction of rotation of the gear H! is in the direction of the arrow, indicated in Fig. 2, the members will rotate in the direction of the arrows placed thereon, causing the members 3! to roll around on the toothed portion 29 of the casing H2 in the same direction as the gear 14 rotates and carrying the disk-like member around in the direction indicated by the arrow thereon in Fig. 2. The rate of rotation of the mom er 29 relative to the shaft 5 will be dependent upon the number of teeth provided on the gear it and the number of teeth 29 that the internal ring gear formed on the member is has. Thus, if the ring gear 29 has 108 teeth and the gear i-i has 20 teeth, the gear it will rotate 6.4 times for each rotation of the member 28.

The disk-like member 2%} is also provided with a plurality of shafts 32, which rotatably mount the toothed members or gears 33 on the member 22' Said gears or toothed members 33 have the teeth thereof meshing with the teeth of the gear it on the shaft 3, said gear members or toothed members being freely rotatably mounted about the axes of the shafts 32 on the member 23. An internal ring gear 34 is mounted in the casing it],

eing provided with the teeth 35, with which the teeth on the gears 33 mesh, and having an annular groove 35 therein for receiving the bearing balls 37 that operate in the groove 38 in the casing 13. Thus the ring-like member 3 is freely rotatably mounted within the casing.

It will be obvious that, if the gear is has the same number of teeth as the gear i i and the internal ring gear 3 has the same number of teeth as the gear 25, there will be no rotation of the ring-like member 34 produced by the shaft l3, but if the number of teeth in either the gear it or the gear 34,. or both thereof, are different from the number of teeth in the gear Hi and the gear 2t, rotation of the member 3% must take place due to the fact that the rotation of the member 21] is positive about the shaft i3 and also the rotation of the gear I6 is positive about the shaft it, thus making it necessary for the ring 36 to rotate about the shaft 53 to compensate for the difference in the gear ratio between the gears i and 2.? and the gears I6 and 3 3. Such rotation of the ring-like member 3 may be transmitted to the driven member in any desired manner, but, preferably, this is accomplished by providing a disk-like member 39, which also serves as a cover plate for the device on one side thereof, said disk-like member fitting within an annular offset it provided in the member '3, and being secured to the ring-like member 34 by any suitable securing means, such as the headed screw-threaded members 4 i.

The disk-like member 353 is formed with a hub portion 42 projecting in axial alignment with the axle l3,- to which any desiredmechanism may be connected in any suitable manner for driving the same at a reduced speed. In order to provide an enclosure for the speed reduction device, so as to enable the same to be packed with grease and prevent the entrance of dirt within the same, a cover plate 43 is provided on the opposite face thereof from the member 39, which fits within an annular ofiset M, provided in the member if and is secured to the casing member ill by any suitable securing elements, such as the headed screwthreaded members @5.

The disk-like member 2% is being rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, due to the rotation of the shaft 53 in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2. The gear it, of course, rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4, the section taken on the line 4-4 being taken facing in an opposite direction to Fig. 2. Accordingly the rotation of said gear [6 will cause rotation of the gears in the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. l. While such rotation is taking place, however, the member 20 is rotating in the same direction the gear it, but at a much slower speed. If the number of eeth provided on the gears Us and 29 are the same previously stated, the shaft and the gear it will make 6.4 revolutions for single rotation of the member If the gear it has the same number of teeth as the g l6, that is, 20 teeth, and nun? r of teeth on the ring gear 34 is more than the number of teeth on the ring gear 29, for example, 110 teeth on the member 34 to 103' on the member 29, it would require revolutions of the gear it to cause the member 282 to make one revolution, if the ring M were fixed, but the member 28 makes one revolution for each 6.4 revolutions of the member 523, due to tl e fact that it is carried along at this rate of speed by the intermeshing of the gears Hi, 3i an i The member 34 being free to rotate, thus carried along in the same direction as the member 25*, with the member enougl'i to make up the di'lference between the amount of rotation of the member 29 required to carry the me nber 29. all the way around once within the member 3-), if it were stationary, and. the amount that it is actually rotated, due to the intcrmeshing of the gears l4, 3! and 28. In the instance described herein, with the number of teeth on the members 14 and !6 being 20, and the number of teeth 29 and 35 being 103 and 13.0, respectively, the ring-like member 34 is rotated in the same direction as the shaft 23, a distance of two teeth for every revolution of the member 29. If there are 13.0 teeth 35 on the member 3 it would require 55 revolutions oi the member to rotate the ring-like member and the hub 32 once. However, the member 23 rotates once for every 6. revolutions of the shaft 53. Accordingly the shaft will rotate once in the same direction as the shaft 13 for each 352 revolutions of the shaft 13.

It wil be obvious that almost any desired reruction in can be obtained by the arrangement described. By varying the number of teeth on the gears i i and i6 so that have a different number of teeth. and leaving the number of teeth 29 and the that is, by providing an equal number of teeth on both ring gears. but a different number of teeth on the gears on the driving shaft, a similar result can be obtained with, of course. a different reduction in speed. Also, both the number of teeth, that the gears 1 and 55 and gears and 34 have, may be varied to give still a different result. Thus, if the gear i l is provided with 20 teeth, and the. gear ill 29 has 110 teeth, it would require 65 revolutions that the ring gear 34 will be carried in thesame direction as the shaft 13, only one-half the distance of one tooth for each revolution of the member 28. It will thus require 210 revolutions of the member 21} to rotate the hub 42 once, and it will require 6.5 times that many revolutions of the shaft l3, or 1365 revolutions of the shaft I3 to rotate the hub, or driven member, 42 once.

Not only can my improved speed reduction drive be utilized to drive the driven member forwardly, but it can be driven in a reverse direction merely by varying the number of teeth in the ring gears 29 and 34, or the number of teeth in the gears I3 and 16, or both. Thus, if the ring gear 29 had 110 teeth and the ring gear 34 had I08 teeth, and the gears l4 and I6 each had 20 teeth, as previously described, the hub 42 would rotate in a reverse direction to the shaft 13, once for every 352 revolutions of the shaft 13. Reduction drives have been designed in accordance with my invention, utilizing the same arrangement of gears and only varying thegear ratios between the ring gears and the gears on the driving shaft, that accomplish a reduction in speed as much as twenty-two thousand to one, without any complication or addition of any parts.

What I claim is:

1. A speed reduction device of the character described comprising a housing including an annular stationary portion, a side plate fixed thereto, and a second side plate spaced from said fixed side plate, a drive shaft extending into said housing, a pair of gears mounted between said side plates on said shaft to rotate therewith, a member rotatably mounted between said annular housing portion and said shaft, anti-friction bearing means between said rotatably mounted member and said shaft, a series of gears rotatably mounted on said rotatably mounted member and meshing with one of said gears on said shaft, a, ring gear fixed on said annular housing portion with which the gears of said series mesh to rotate. said rotatably mounted 7 member about said shaft, a second series of gears rotatably mounted on said rotatably mounted member and meshing with the other of said gears on said shaft, a ring gear with which the gears of said second series mesh, anti-friction bearing means rotatably mounting said ringgear in said housing, means fixing said rotatably mounted ring gear to said second plate, and a driven shaft projecting from and fixed to said second side plate to rotate therewith.

said housing, a pair of gears mountedbetween said side plates on. said shaft to rotatev therewith, a member rotatably mounted between said annular housing portion and said shaft, anti-friction bearing means between said rotatably mounted member and said shaft and between said rotatably mounted member and said annular housing portion, a series of Y gears rotatably mounted on one side of s-aidrotatably mounted member and meshing with one of said gears on said shaft, a ring gear fixed on said annular housing portion with which the gears of said series mesh to rotate said rotatably mounted member about said shaft, a second series of gears mounted on the other side of said rotatably mounted member to rotate thereon independently of the gears of said first series and meshing with the other of said gears on said shaft,a ring gear with which the gears of said second seriesmesh, anti-friction bearing means rotatably mounting said ring gear in said housing, means fixing said rotatably mounted ring gear to said second side plate, and a driven shaft connected with said rotatably mounted ring gear to rotate therewith, said side plates cooperating to hold said series of gears in position on said rotatably mounted member.

3. A speed reduction device of the character described comprising a housing including an annular stationary'portion, a side plate fixed thereto, and a-second side plate spaced from said fixed side plate, a drive shaft extending into said housing,a pair of gears mounted between said side plates and closely adjacent the same on said shaft to rotate therewith,-. a member rotatably mounted between said annular housing portion and said shaft, anti-friction bearing means between said rotatably mounted member and said shaft and between said rotatably mounted member and said annular housing portion comprising a ball race confined between said pair of gears, a series of gears rotatably mounted on one side of said rotatably mounted member and meshing with one of said gears on said shaft, a ring gear fixed on said annular housing portion with which the gears of said series mesh to rotate said rotatably mounted member about said shaft,- a second series of gears rotatably mounted on said rotatably mounted member on the opposite face thereof from said first series of gears and meshing with the other of said gears on said shaft, a ring gear with which the gears of said second series mesh, anti-friction bearing means mounting said ring gear to rotate in a fixed path in said annular housing portion, and a driven shaft projecting from and fixed to said second side plate to rotate therewith, the ratio between the one gear on said shaft and said fixed ring gear being different from the ratio between the other gear on said shaft and said rotatably mounted ring gear, said side plates cooperating to hold said series of gears in position on said rotatably mounted member and engaging said annular housing portion to provide a grease retaining chamber for all said gears. LESLIE G. BOWEN. 

